What We've Been Up To

It's been a while since I've updated the blog, so I thought it was about time. If I waited any longer, I'd have to include Christmas, and that will probably be a whole post in and of itself! But, here it goes! This post will mostly consist of pictures with explanations. I'll begin with two weekends ago

Joe's parents were in town on Saturday and we all went to see a concert given by The Midwest Vocal Express, an all men's choir. They sang all holiday songs and sounded amazing. The night, Joe and I drove to Madison to celebrate our friend Scott's 30th birthday. I got to catch up with his wife, my friend, Jenn, and got to cuddle with their daughter, Talia. Don't you just want to pinch those cheeks?

We took the kids to a Newcomer's Kidsclub Christmas Party where Ella enjoyed decorating cookies and Nathan enjoyed sitting on Santa's lap.

My parents arrived on Thursday to celebrate Christmas early, since we will be with Joe's parents this year. My mom gave us our stockings, which is always the highlight for me! We got gift cards for Kohl's and Target, which I am excited to use. I got a nice sweater and Joe got a shirt, and of course, we have our beautiful new stove sitting in our kitchen! Ella got a cash register, some books, and some adorable PJs (although she could've cared less about the PJs). She also got a cute outfit, which again, she was not thrilled about. I, on the other hand, am always thrilled to get clothes for the kids! Nathan also got some clothes and some books, a generous contribution to his college fund, and a really neat toy consisting of gears, lights, and music. We made cut-out cookies and decorated them...Ella made the best creation I think, don't you?

We made a delicious Christmas dinner and enjoyed sitting at our dining room table, eating off of my Grandma's Christmas china an using her silverware. It was a wonderful Christmas celebration.

Guess who's sick again? Nathan. I had to take him to the doctor yesterday morning since he had been coughing for a few days, spiked a fever, and had started wheezing. When we got there, his oxygen saturation (how much O2 is in his blood) was on 93%, which isn't horrible, but still a little low. His respiratory rate was double what it should be and his heart rate was elevated. The doctor determined that he had a double ear infection, after looking in both ears. The doctor then started him on a breathing treatment, which was quite comical. Imagine trying to hold a face mask over a 14 month old's face for 5 minutes. Yeah...Nate wasn't having that. He didn't sound much better after the treatment, so we got sent down the road for a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia. Luckily, the x-ray came back showing no pneumonia, thank God! We returned to the pediatrician's office where they checked his vitals again, which hadn't changed much, so Nate got another breathing treatment. This one went even worse than the first one! But, something worked, because his O2 sats came back up to 95%. We were sent home with an antibiotic for the ear infections and an inhaler for the coughing and wheezing. Poor kid...it just never ends! Surprisingly, Nathan has been sleeping great! My parents were supposed to leave this morning, but offered to stay so Nathan could stay home from Ms. Linda's, and then Joe and I didn't have to call into work. They plan on leaving this afternoon after Joe gets home from work.

Like everyone else, the rest of the week is busy busy! My friend Gretchen and her husband Mike are coming over for dinner tonight, and then Joe's friend Eric and his girlfriend Stephanie are coming over for dinner tomorrow night. Both are from out-of-town, so we're really excited that they were able to fit us in for a visit! Joe and I both work on Thursday, Christmas Eve, so our babysitter Alex is coming over to watch the kids all day. We plan on going to the Family Service at Church at 5:00pm which is also a candlelight service, my favorite. Joe sings at the 10:00pm service, but the kids and I will stay home for that one. We'll all probably be in bed actually! Then on Christmas morning, we will wake up at the crack of dawn, I'm sure, take our time having breakfast and opening presents (or the other way around), and then drive to Stevens Point to celebrate Christmas Day with Joe's family. We'll stay there until Sunday (with 8 adults and 5 children all in one house) and then drive back home. Ella is going to stay at her Grandma and Grandpa's a few extra days, as well as her cousins.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday! Please travel safe!